In the end, aren’t we all human?

I will not deny the fact the letter had my eyes shed a few hard fought tears. Despite the fact that both he and I have different world views (the supposed godhood of a 2000 year old Jew), we both agree that speaking up when others don’t is the right thing to do. The act is so moving because as beautiful as his words were, he is one of us; the ordinary folks, just sitting at a deli having breakfast.

I also think that the more we speak up, the more we begin to realize that the good really does outweigh the bad. It’s just so many of us are in a coma, too afraid to rock the boat in fear of capsizing ourselves. It’s hard to be brave, especially when there is every reason for you to ignore it.

But when it really hits you how compassionate such an action is, how can anyone still think the misplaced fear and anger of bigotry is admirable? It’s easy to make our hearts hard and ignore the plight of others. But in so doing we miss the opportunity to experience the ecstasy of compassion that comes from helping your fellow man. This kind of rush sometimes makes the whole act of giving feel a little selfish over time (NOTE: there’s an “I’m too selfless to give anyone anything” joke in there somewhere).

So don’t watch this video if you have a propensity for empathy, because it’s going to hit your face muscles hard when you try to be all “tough” to the people around you. As for the rest of you heartless bastards, can you explain what horrible life scar made you so cold?

Courtney

BumbleBee

I think part of the discrepancy between New York and Texas could have been due to preparation. When you hear offensive things often, you’re prepared to react to them. New York City is the land of the mostly-mainstream liberals, with a few radicals from all sides sprinkled in. The general policy there is to completely ignore them.

LeetheGirl

I don’t really like ‘under cover’ videos where they basically lie to people, but at least it had a positive outcome.

I’m happy to note that there are plenty of people in Texas who are not crazy conservative bastards. A good example is everyone who works at the wonderful company called Rooster Teeth Productions. They’re all awesome, open minded gamers who make some of the best videos on the internet.

I used to think Texas was bad too, but when I found out Rooster Teeth was based there I looked into and realized Texas is one of the least conservative southern states.